The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned that artificial intelligence-driven disinformation poses a major threat to the credibility of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections, urging stakeholders to treat electoral technology and communication as a single, integrated discipline.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, made the warning on Wednesday in Abuja during the 13th Annual International Conference of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN).
The conference, themed “Media, Technology and Elections in Africa: Navigating Digital Disruption and the New Dynamics of Electoral Communication,” focused on the growing impact of digital technology on elections across the continent.
Amupitan’s keynote address was delivered on his behalf by National Commissioner Sani Adam, SAN, according to a statement issued by INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi.
The INEC chairman said the commission’s credibility now depends not only on the integrity of election technology such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), but also on how electoral information is communicated and trusted by Nigerians.
He warned that generative artificial intelligence has made it easier and cheaper to create convincing fake audio, videos and images capable of misleading voters.
According to him, manipulated political content has already appeared in recent elections across West and East Africa, making the challenge increasingly urgent ahead of the 2027 polls.
Amupitan also raised concerns over algorithmic microtargeting, where political actors send different or even contradictory campaign messages to narrowly defined groups of voters online.
He warned that such content could spread to millions of users before electoral authorities or fact-checkers are able to verify it.
The INEC chairman said BVAS and IReV were introduced to improve transparency by allowing citizens to verify polling unit results before they reached collation centres.
However, he acknowledged that challenges experienced during the 2023 general election showed that technology could also become a source of public distrust when it fails to perform as expected.
He stressed that public confidence can only be built when electoral systems work reliably, are properly understood by voters, and shortcomings are explained honestly whenever they occur.
As part of preparations for the next general election, Amupitan disclosed that INEC is carrying out a comprehensive audit of its electoral technology infrastructure.
The audit includes reviewing system redundancy, conducting penetration testing, and strengthening disaster recovery plans to improve the resilience of the commission’s digital platforms.
He also revealed that INEC is considering conducting a mock presidential election before the 2027 polls to test voter accreditation, electronic result transmission and result viewing under conditions similar to election day.
Amupitan urged communication professionals, researchers and media organisations to play a greater role in combating misinformation and strengthening public understanding of electoral processes.
He said safeguarding election credibility in the digital age requires stronger collaboration between election managers, technology experts, journalists and communication scholars to counter emerging threats posed by artificial intelligence and online disinformation.
